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Proposal would extend Canadian snowbirds' time in U.S.

Canadians who want to escape harsh winters now can stay in the USA for 6 months minus one day.

Ontario residents Jesse and Max Fortier fish from the historic Naples City, Fla., Pier in 2012. A proposal in Congress would allow Canadian retirees and their families to stay longer in the U.S.(Photo: Sarah Coward, The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.)

Story Highlights

Proposal would give Canadians 2 extra months stateside

Snowbirds from across the northern border are a major source of tourism dollars

WASHINGTON — Legislation being debated in the Senate could change the migration patterns of some Canadian snowbirds.

The provision would allow retired Canadians 55 or older to receive a Canadian Retiree Visa allowing them to stay in the United States for up to eight months — two months longer than current law allows — if they own a second home in the USA, have a rental agreement or hotel reservation.

Canadian citizens do not need visas to visit the U.S., but their stay is limited to six months minus one day — generally 182 days — within any 12-month period. That means Canadians who head to popular destinations in Arizona, California, Florida or Texas at the beginning of November need to get back home by late April.

"A lot of people want to stay longer,'' said Bob Slack, president of the Canadian Snowbird Association. "They'd like seven months if they can.''

Canadians who exhaust their allotment of days for visiting the U.S. are barred from making day trips across the border for the remainder of the 12-month period. That translates into lost tourist revenue for places like New York's Finger Lakes region in the East and Seattle on the West Coast.

The longer visiting period was inserted into the immigration legislation by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, whose home state of New York is the top destination for visiting Canadians.

More than 6.9 million Canadians visited New York last year and spent $1.7 billion, according to the Canadian embassy.

Schumer says his proposal has generated little controversy. He describes it as "an economic shot in the arm'' because Canadian retirees would spend more money in New York and elsewhere in the United States.

Sandy Martin, 59, of Ontario, is served a drink in March at Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Retired Canadians 55 and older could qualify to stay 2 more months in the U.S. under a proposal in Congress.(Photo: Lindsay Terry, The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.)

"They help spur our economy,'' Schumer said. "Particularly for places like Buffalo and Rochester, far and away their biggest spending from tourists, other than Americans, is from Canadians.''

The Canadian government didn't ask for the measure, according to embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett.

"But we certainly support anything that can improve trade and tourism between Canada and the U.S.,'' he said.

The impetus for the change came from the Canadian Snowbird Association based in Toronto, which estimates Canadian snowbirds made 1.08 million trips to the U.S. in 2011. The association defines a Canadian snowbird as someone 55 or older who spends 31 or more consecutive days in the U.S.

"The association estimates that 70% of Canada travelers spending over one month in the sunbelt states choose Florida as their destination,'' Evan Rachkovsky, research officer for the Canadian Snowbird Association, said in an email.

The association also wants a change in U.S. tax laws that would let Canadians who spend up to eight months in the U.S. avoid paying income tax here, but Schumer does not plan to pursue that.

Slack, the group's president, has owned a manufactured home in Winter Haven, Fla., since he retired as an elementary school principal in 1997. The house cost $66,000 and "came with a golf cart,'' he said.

His wife, Lois, retired from her teaching job a year later.

They were the third Canadian family to purchase a unit in their complex. Slack estimates that about 75 units are now owned by Canadians hailing mostly from Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They live alongside snowbirds from Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin.

“They help spur our economy. Particularly for places like Buffalo and Rochester, far and away their biggest spending from tourists, other than Americans, is from Canadians.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

During the warmer months, the Slacks are home in Athens, Ontario, close to the New York border. But they are unable to cross over the Thousand Islands Bridge into New York for shopping or a game of golf if they have used up their 182-day allotment.

Slack kept seven of his 182 days in reserve this year with the expectation he will visit Washington to lobby for congressional passage of Schumer's proposal.

Canadians already are the largest group of foreigners who purchase homes in the United States. Schumer's proposal would provide an added incentive for Canadians to buy second homes here.

Canadians accounted for 24% of international investors in U.S. real estate in 2012, according to the National Association of Realtors. The second largest group was Chinese nationals at 11%, followed by Mexicans at 8%, and citizens of India and the United Kingdom, both at 6%.

More than half a million Canadians own homes in Florida, according to an April report by BMO Financial Group of Toronto. It said top locations for Canadian homeowners are the Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice area, 17%; Orlando-Kissimmee, 13 percent; and Miami-Fort. Lauderdale-Palm Beach, 13%. The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area, Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area and Naples-Marco Island region each had 9%.

Other popular winter residences for Canadians include Arizona, especially Yuma, Lake Havasu, Tucson and Mesa, and the Palm Springs area of California, Slack said. In Texas, popular Canadian wintering grounds are the Rio Grande Valley, McAllen, Brownsville and South Padre Island.

Canadian snowbirds

Canadians who visit the USA for the winter generally stay as far south as they can. Some popular destinations: